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The Fatal Conceit: Errors of Obama Administration Energy Policy

Amongst the litany of failures by the Obama administration’s domestic policy, none seems to be more salient than their naïve utopian energy policy. You can already hear the clamoring of “drill baby drill” bellowing from conservative pundits and average Americans, who are adversely affected by skyrocketing energy prices and deficient energy policy.

So how did we get to this point? First, the EPA or Employment Prevention Agency has been waging a full scale Soviet-style centrally planned assault on the productive energy producing sector of our economy, arbitrarily attempting to impose its will through bureaucratic decrees. Since Democrats in the 111th congress were unable ram through cap and trade, the EPA has been flexing its regulatory muscle in an attempt to curb carbon emissions and stymie climate change. All of course, at the miniscule price of economic prosperity.

The Obama administration has unilaterally reduced the issuance of offshore oil permits, which has drastically reduced our drilling and production of oil. While the tumultuous and revolutionary events of the middle-east have affected the price of oil slightly, The Heritage Foundation shows that the demand for crude oil is the most significant contributor to rapidly increasing oil prices:

“The most significant driver of rising oil prices is increased demand. Industrialized countries climbing out of their respective recessions are using more oil, and China and India are also using more oil as they continue rapid economic growth. Rising demand will continue to put upward pressure on prices as the world economy attempts to recover.”

As the pain at the pump festers and pockets of Americans become lighter, the Obama administration continues to purport “green technology” as the messianic endeavor of our time and solution to our energy dilemma. That may be true, but sustainable efficient renewable energy is so far in the rear view mirror that continuation of government subsidies and mandates come at the expense of jobs and GDP growth. Let the free market choose which energy sources are the most viable and release the economy from the shackles of our vast regulatory constraints.

If the free market becomes unrestrained from destructive centrally planned bureaucratic controls, then technology may advance to the point where renewable energy will become viable and efficient. Until then, the mantra of an expansive energy exploration policy should be “Drill Obama Drill”.

Last week, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) introduced H.R. 5499, the Agency Accountability Act. Congress provides funds to federal agencies to carry out specified activities through the appropriations process. Too often, these agencies engage in activities that Congress has not authorized and pays for them via fines and fees they collect. This practice is an end run around Congress and the will of the people. Rep. Palmer’s bill would curb this practice, help restore the oversight function of Congress, and send the money garnered by federal agencies through fees to the Treasury instead of allowing those funds to be used indiscriminately.

In October 2015, the EPA announced a new standard for ground-level ozone, tightening its stringent existing standard even more. It set the new standard at 70 parts per million (0.0070% of the atmosphere), a 9% decrease from the previous standard of 75 ppm established in 2008. Along with nearly 1000 counties nationwide that may not meet this new standard, one-third of all US counties, you’ll find at least 26 national parks. Does it seem ridiculous to you that the EPA has created a situation where some of the most rural and pristine areas of the United States could be lumping in the same category with the most densely-populated and industrialized? Well, then you don’t know the EPA.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced revisions to the proposed rules interpreting the Fair Labor Standard Act’s regulations on the overtime compensation pay of white-collar, salaried workers. Currently, salaried employees making more than $23,660 annually are exempt from the DOL requirement that employers pay time-and-a-half for each hour over 40 hours weekly. The final rule, with several key changes to the proposed rule, will extend overtime pay protections to over 40 million American workers.

As the "drop dead date" for Obama administration regulations draws near, we are expecting a flood of "midnight regulations." Regulatory agencies, in an eleventh-hour attempt to pass new rules before the start of the next administration, will make a huge push in ushering in new proposals. In preparation for this regulatory outburst, we have provided a brief guide explaining how proposed rules become regulations.

The "drop dead date" for federal regulations is fast approaching and we are expecting more overreaching proposals. This is the last date that proposed rules can be finalized by the Obama administration, without fear that the next President will overturn them under the Congressional Review Act. Regulatory agencies are expected to release a flood of regulations before this date. This regulatory outburst, first noted in the final days of the Carter Administration, is known as "midnight regulations."

Financial regulators released a 279-page proposal that would set parameters around how and when Wall Street Executives make their money. The proposal, mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, is a five-year project spanning across six regulatory agencies.

The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse. —James Madison, Speech in the Virginia State Convention of 1829-1830 http://www.freedomworks.org/democracy-and-power-101

In recent years, the topic of unionization and right-to-work laws has been raised as a fairly contentious issue. As state legislatures sought to recoup the costs incurred due to lost revenue following the Great Recession, de-unionization policies, at least at the public sector level, were floated as cost-cutting measures. But nearly as often, right-to-work laws at the private sector level were also explored and implemented, perhaps most infamously in the case of the state of Wisconsin under Governor Scott Walker.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled the EPA was unreasonable when it did not consider costs when it decided to regulate mercury emissions from power plants. The Court, in an opinion by Justice Scalia, held that the EPA must consider costs, including compliance costs, when deciding whether a regulation is appropriate and necessary.

A group of states and energy companies have joined to sue the EPA over the agency’s Clean Power Plan. The two cases, State of West Virginia v. EPA and In re Murray Energy Company, were combined and oral arguments were heard before the DC Circuit this Thursday.